little white truths

My husband and I have been here a few times - we have however only been once since we returned from Berlin late last year. The reason? I'm something of a Japanese purist and prefer traditional Japanese food, so I don't normally go in for the fusion thang. Mex, on the other hand, doesn't like traditional Japanese as much and loves the fusion style - probably because he's Mexican and has grown up on food drowned in countless condiments hehe. For me, Japanese isn't about that: it's about fresh, clean and simple.

While in Berlin we found a sensational local Japanese joint that did both fusion and traditional style, here in Melbourne we've struggled a bit to find a happy medium. While I can find things on the Gaijin menu to order, it takes a bit of work and my options are limited. Having said this, I do enjoy the experience of dining there now and then.

Atmosphere/prices/service

I like it. Fresh, clean and simple ; ) - with a bit of funk. It feels upmarket but the prices aren't ridiculous. It would make a good date restaurant.

You can be well-fed and come away spending around $30-$40 per head. Note also they have an all-you-can-eat option on the menu (see menu here) and there's also a take away menu.

The service is good, though we've only been here when it's quiet so I'm not sure how it goes when things are busy. The lighting is nice and dim - perfect for a dinner setting.

Food

Note: apologies for the striped shadows on the photos. I was sitting in the worst possible spot to take them and couldn't be bothered moving hehe (plus I decided you could see the dishes well-enough).

For entrée we had the Nasu Dengaku ($10, above), a roasted half-eggplant with sweet ginger miso and sesame seeds. This was my choice and it was wonderful. Soft, juicy and rich but not too rich. It was my favourite of everything we ordered. Mex liked this too - surprising for one who prefers more complex foods with lots of different flavours - so that shows how good the dish is.

Mex's choice for entrée was the Big Bang ($10, below), rolls of salmon, crab stick, enoki, cream cheese and spicy mayo, baked in a thick mess. This was far too rich for me - it was totally swimming in the mayo and I had to wash some of it off with soy sauce to be able to eat it - but it was Mex's favourite dish. We're opposites in that regard; while we like the same restaurants and tend to agree on what places serve good food (and we're both hard to please on that front!), we'll order completely different things. I guess that makes him a good blog post partner ; ). The other thing about this dish was that I wasn't sure about the quality of the seafood - it tasted cheap and fishy to me. Mex didn't notice this - it was all about the sauce for him - and he reserved the leftover sauce to have as one of the condiments for his sushi.

For main we ordered three rolls: Pink Lady, Spider v Dragon and Cheese Sensation. They all cost $13.50 and are decent sizes (8 fat pieces per serve), very filling and served with the standard ginger, soy sauce and wasabi. The wasabi didn't pack enough punch for me so I kept stealing his because he doesn't like spicy foods and must be a 'fake' Mexican after all. Mex always orders some sweet, oyster sauce to have with his, while I stick with the traditional accompaniments (no surprises there).

He ordered two and I ordered one, plus the green salad with sesame dressing ($4) pictured below. No prizes for guessing who ordered what roll hehe.

Above is the Pink Lady, the only roll I saw on first glance at the menu that (to me) was more of the 'normal' Japanese variety. (I should note that Gaijin doesn't hold itself out to be traditional Japanese, so one can't expect to see much in that style - if that's what you're after, go somewhere else.)

It contains fresh salmon, cucumber and avocado, and is topped with tuna slices and mango salsa. I loved this: fresh, simple(ish) and clean. Mex liked this too, though he put more sauce on it than he did the other two rolls.

The Spider v Dragon roll (above) was our favourite of Mex's two choices. It contains soft shell crab, cream cheese and tempura crunch, and is topped with seared unagi and teriyaki sauce. He loved it. While it was a bit rich for me (I had only one piece), I did like the flavour. The tempura crunch made it extra fun to eat - a great mix of textures.

Above is the Cheese Sensation. I didn't like this at all - it was somehow both rich and tasteless, and felt gluggy to eat. Mex thought it was ok, but it was his least favourite of his three orders. It contains soft shell crab, avocado and cucumber, and is topped with torched salmon, cheese, masago and Gaijin's special mayo. We wouldn't order it again.

Below is the green salad I mentioned. It was fine but I've had much better sesame dressings - this one was actually pretty poor. Gluggy too.

Verdict

If you're after Japanese fusion, this is a decent place to try. While it's not the best Japanese that we've eaten (fusion or otherwise), Gaijin has a lot going for it - not least of all the atmosphere and broad, interesting menu. If I, as a traditional Japanese lover, could find something to like about the food, I'm sure most people could too. I myself wouldn't hurry back, but Mex is already looking for a partner to take on all-you-can-eat night!

Details

135 Commercial Road

South Yarra VIC 3141

+61 3 9804 8873

+61 417 042 755